Engine starting mechanism



Jly 16, 1940.i

c.V l. MacNElL l ENGINE STARTING M'CHANISM ,Filed sept. 1o, l1938 Patented Iulyia i940 l l l 2,207,927 l 4UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE -ENGINE STARTING. MECHANSM Charles I. MacNeil, East Orange, N. J., assignor to.

Bendix Aviation Corporation, South Bend, Ind., a corporation of Delaware Application September 10, 1938, Serial No. 229,375 s claims. (ci. 12s-179) This invention relates to internal combustion nism that can be operated electro-magnetically engine starting apparatus, and more particularly or by hand, at the choice of the operator. to engine starting apparatus ,of the inertia type, These and other objects of the invention will wherein there is considerable rotation of the become appar-entfrom, inspection of the lfollowdrivingv elements, for momentum or inertia ing specification when read with reference to the 5 producing purposes, in advance of establishment accompanying -drawing wherein is illustrated of torque transmitting connection between said the preferred embodiment of the invention. It driving elements and the engine crank-shaft.4v is to be expressely understood; however, that the The establishment of such connection is'comdrawing is for the purpose of illustration only. l0 monly referred to as meshing and is lnot designed as a definition of the limits lo Where the meshing is brought about through of the invention, reference being had to the apthe agency of linkage, the actuation of said linkpended claims for this purpose. age-whether manually or electro-magnetically In the drawing: i induced-requires expenditure of considerable Fis. 1 is a view. partly in elevation andpartly 1B energy as it is necessary to overpower a comin section, of an inertia starter by means of which 16 paratively sturdy opposing element such as, for the invention maybe practiced;

example, a torsion spring similar to the one in-- Fig. 2 iS a transverse View alOIlg the line 2-2 dicated by reference numeral 106 in Fig. 4 of the 0f Fig. 1; and drawings of Patent No. 1,833,948 granted Dec. 1, Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of elec- 1931. The purpose of this opposing spring, or trical connections that may be employed for m its equivalent, is to`insure a return of the engine .energiZatOn 0f the electrical parte.

engaging clutch or gear element to the de- Referring principally t0 Fig- 1I there iS ShOWIl meshedf, position, and/0r t0 insure the retentherein a built-up Starter housing, including a tion thereof in the de-meshed position at al1 motor 5a and flywheel-containing section 5. in-

g5 times other than the period of the actua1 engine termedite sections 6 and 1, and a forward seoz5' cranking operation; and as the opposition of tion 8, the latter provided with a flange 9 to regissuch spring or itsequivalent must be overcome ter With a Corresponding iiange- H 0n the engine in order to mesh the starter with the engine, crank-case, and to receive mounting bolts I2 'for it is apparent that considerable force is required. attachment 0f the Starter to the engine. in Such In electromagnetically induced meshing-as in position that clutch element l3 of the starter 30 the Lansing patent above identified-the current may engage-that is, mesh With-correspond- Y drawn by the electro-magnet is considerable, for ingly Shaped engine member I4 t0 impalbinitial the reasons above indicated; and where the rotary movement to the engine crankshaft, or an meshing is manually effected, the eiort required extensn thereof. indicated 'et 5,1116 methOd ,35 is correspondingly high, i of producing such meshing movement of the An object of the present invention is to promember I3 beingone of the features of the presvide, in a starter of the character indicated, a ent invention, es above IlOlednovel method of meshing, involving utilization of In addition to electrical means for acceleration previously stored energy to produce the meshing of ilywheel I-,such electrical means being prei-l o movement, under the control of the operator as erably disposed in the rearwardly extending poro to the time of such meshing movement, wherebyv vim 5a of housing section 5 and including a m0' -there is secured the advantage of delayed meslrbl tor having a rotor (not shown) drivably coning (to permit the building up of inertie, or ectd to flywheel 's by meal We knwli the momentum) but without the necessity of introartn'the starter as Shown' lllcllldes a manually ducing a Separate Source of energy to prodce operable accelerating means in the form oi'bevel 45 such delayed meshing. gear comblllal'loll 2l and 22 the former being shown as integral with a long shaft 23 which is Another Object 1S t0 Provide novel meslllng centrally bored to receive the mesh rod 2l, and

means for en inertia Starter of the .Chantier inthe iatter being integral with a shaft 2s (Fig. 21

w dicated. v l rotatably mounted in housing section 1 and pro- 50 A further ObJeCt 1S t0 PIOVide R01/e1 means t01 l jecting therefrom for reception of a suitable converting rotary into rectilinear movement, to f handcrank (not shown) whereby rotation may produce corresponding rectilinear' movement of be imparted to the flywheel I8 through the inthe engine-engaging member. tervening speed multiplying gear train, of which u Another object is toy provide meshing mecha-y the bevel gears 22 and 2| constitute the low speed 55 end, and spur gears 28 and 29 the high speed end, the latter being shown as an integral extension of the ywheel assembly I8, and therefore rotatable therewith, whether the drive be by way of manually operable shaft 26 or motor 5a. The details of the connections between shaft 23 and gear 28, and between shaft 23 and clutch I3, are not fully illustrated in the drawing as it is within the skill of those familiar with thwart to supply said details, particularly in view of complete disclosures of suitable connections for such purposes in patents heretofore granted as, for example, Lansing Patent No. 1,784,190 of December 9, 1930.

As in said Lansing patent, the mesh rod l2li terminates in hand-crank housing 1 and to its end is pivotally connected a lever arm 3I that is rigidly attached to a rock shaft 32. One end of shaft 32 projects exteriorly of housing 1 and carries a lever arm 33. A torsion spring 34 is coiled about shaft 32, within the housing 1, and one end of said spring is engaged with lever arm 3I while the other end is engaged with the housing, the spring being so disposed as to act through rod 24 and clutch element I3 to maintain the latter normally in the illustrated demeshed position, with respect to engine member I4. 'It is the opposing force of this relatively sturdy spring 34 that must be overcome, as above suggested, in order to engage the member I3 with the memberv I4, following acceleration of ywheel I8, and at the discretion of the operator. The illustrated means' for producing such engagement will next be described. Mounted on the rear Wall of housing section 1,

,by suitable means 36, is aplate 31 having a central extension 38 terminating in a threaded end portion 39 to receive a nut 4I serving to retain thereon a spur gear 42 having a hub portion 43 rotatable, with the aid of rollers 44, about the supporting axle v38, and externally splined for clockwise direction, as viewed in registry with corresponding splines formed internally, of clutch element 43. A companion clutch element 41 is also journaled on axle 38 and has frictional driving relationship to a ring 48 carrying a radially projecting arm 49 terminating in a cam element 58 that is normally held against a suitable stop 5I by a spring 52, but is adapted to move away from said stop and into camming engagement with the lower end of lever 3| when such movement ls induced by a torque applied to said ring 48. This camming movement has the effect of swinging the lever 3I in a Fig. 1, thereby and clutch element I3 to the left, I3 into meshing, member VI4, the

shifting rod 24 and bringing clutch element driving relationship to engine opposing torsion spring 34 being overpowered v by the superior force of the energy previously stored in flywheel at the discretion of the operator, and in the manner next to be described.

Application of torque to cam ring 48 occurs whenclutch elements 46 and 41-normally held disengaged by a coiled compression spring 45 interposed therebetween-are brought into engagement, and such engagement is produced by shifting clutch element 46 to the right of the positionl indicated in Fig. 1. To produceV such shifting there is integrated with element 46 a shifter plate 6I having a flange 62 engageable by a shifter yoke (not shown) for manual shifting' thereof, and also shiftable by electromagnetic means; under manual control. v

6I is of magnetizable material, and acts as an` I8 and applied to cam ring 48 To this endI the member armature with respect to the solenoid winding 63 and its magnetic retainer element or pole-- `element 46, on the other hand, is a positive one,

and includes the inter-engaged spur gears 40 and 42. the former being splined to shaft 23 and the latter to clutch element 46, as heretofore noted.-

`The operation of the device is as follows:

Assuming manual acceleration of flywheel I8 is desired, the operator rotates the hand-cranked shaft 26 and this motion is transmitted through gears including 22, 2|, 28 and 29 to the ywheel I8, whereby the latter is rotated for storage of starting-and meshing-energy therein. Rotation of these gears is accompanied by proportionate rotation of clutch element I3, as inthe aforesaidv Lansing 'Patent 1,784,190; but said -clutch element is maintained out of driving engagement with the engine member I4 by the action of opposing spring 34 on lever 3| and mesh rod 24. At this stage the clutch elements 46, 41 likewise remain disengaged, due Vto spring 45 therebetween.

When the flywheel has been brought to a sufficiently high speed the operator shifts clutch element 46 to the right either by actuation of the shifter yoke (not shown) or by closing switch contacts 15 (Fig. 3) to cause current to ow from source 16 through solenoid winding 63. In

either case the result will be to cause clutch element 41 to turn with the driving clutch'element 46. This turning movement will be trans' mitted to the cam-ring 48 by way of friction ring 61, and will produce the heretofore-described cam action between members 58 and 3I, whereby mesh rod 24 is shifted to the left to mesh element I3 with engine member I4. The energy storedv in the `flywheel (minus that consumed in the camming action just described) is now transferred to the engine crank-shaft by way of the gear train and clutch elements I3, I4. This energy facilitates combustion in the engine cylinders, and when such combustion occurs the operator m'ay re-open the switch contacts 15 (or release the shifter yoke, according to which means of operation is employed), whereupon spring will be effective to disengage clutch elements 446 and 41, spring 52 will become effective to return cam to the position of nonengagement with lever 3|, and spring 34 will concurrently becomeV effective to return mesh rod 24 and clutch element I3 to the non-meshing position shown.

After clutch elements I3, I4 have been fully meshed, friction ring 61 permits rotation of -clutch elements 46, 41 in relation to cam-ring by remotely disposed control-to permit use of a short heavy cable from source 16 .to said switch contacts Il, and the installation o! said switch in proximity to the motor housing. To this end there is provided a second solenoid 82 energizable' to close switch 8 I the ilow of current to said solenoid being by wayvoi normally open contacts independently of any reliance upon externally disposed lever 33 (representing a type oi mesh control that has heretofore been used extensively on starters of the character illustrated) the said lever 33 may of course be dispensed with, or, if.

desired, it may be retained for use in the event of a possible failure, for any reason, of the normal mesh controllingelements 41 or associated Darts.

What is claimed is: l. In combination with a driving gear and engine-engaging member, means including a meshproducing cam element having a limited range' o! movement for moving said engine-engaging member to engine-engaging position, and means including normally disengaged clutch elements for drivably connecting said driving gear and nam-element to actuate the latter by energy transmitted by said driving/gear, said cam actuating means also including a slip connection between said cam element and one of said clutch elements whereby continued rot/ation of said clutch elements is possible after the cam element has reached the limit of its range of movement.

2. In combination with a driving gear andengine-engaging member, meansincluding a driven clutch element for moving said engine-engaging member to engine-engaging position, means including a driving clutch element rotatable by said driving gear to actuate said first-named clutch element and thereby cause engine-engaging movement of said engine-engaging member, and means for producing rotation of said engine engaging member, said last-named means also operating to produce rotation of said clutch elements. l

3. In combination with a driving gear and engine-engaging' member, means including a mesh-producing element having a limited range of movement for moving said engine-engaging member to engine-engaging position, and means for drivably connecting said driving gear and mesh-producing element to actuate 'the latter by energy transmitted by said driving gear, said lastnamed means including a yielding connection between said driving gear andl mesh-producing element whereby continued rotation of the driving gear is possible after the mesh-producingvele.- ment has reached the limit of its range of movement.

CHARLES I. MAcNEIL. 

